Women’s Basketball: Terriers Clinch Patriot League Regular Season Title With Win At Bucknell
By Brendan Galvin
Cover Photo Credit: Eliza Nuestro
Boston University Women’s Basketball will now play the entire Patriot League Tournament from Case Gymnasium after their 66-57 win over Bucknell on Saturday clinched sole possession of the regular season conference title.
The Terriers (20-6, 15-0 PL) pulled away late against a strong Bucknell (12-14, 8-7 PL) team that gave BU a run for their money in their attempt to stay undefeated in conference play. Although the Bison only ever led by as much as four points, they seemed within reach of the lead for most of the game.
This regular season title marks the fourth in program history, but the first as a member of the Patriot League for BU.
“To be able to host the Patriot League Championship was one of our many goals and a big one for us,” BU Head Coach Melissa Graves said after the game. “It creates such a huge advantage for us to play in front of our fans and our family, and be in a place where we’re comfortable.”
Junior forward Cailtin Weimar and senior guard Sydney Johnson continued their dominant season, scoring 21 and 22 points, respectively. Johnson also connected on two early 3-pointers to give the Terriers an early lead.
The deciding factor in the game was the Terriers’ dominance in the paint on both sides of the ball. BU outscored Bucknell in the paint 34-16, most of which came from Weimar. She also hauled in 11 rebounds, including four boards on the offensive end. Senior forward Maren Durant led the defensive effort down low, totaling eight rebounds and three blocks.
“That’s just become our identity in the league, we’re the biggest team in the conference so that’s something that we need to focus on every night,” Graves said.
Graves added that the team made a halftime adjustment to play four guards to force Bucknell to defend the perimeter more, opening up space for the forwards in the paint.
After a hot start from behind the arc, connecting on five 3-pointers in the first half, the Terriers failed to make a 3-pointer in the second. The team relied heavily on their paint presence in the second half, going 0-for-4 from deep after the break.
For the Bison, sophomore guard Cecelia Collins led the way, contributing 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Freshman forward Emma Theodorsson scored seven of the team’s first 11 points, but only managed to score once more throughout the rest of the game.
“We already knew going in that [Collins] was going to be a big key to try to stop. I thought she had a really good scoring game,” Graves said.
With just three games remaining, the Terriers will look to continue their undefeated run in conference play in their final regular season home game against Army on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.